Convert file sizes between different units of measurement.
File sizes are measured in different units, and understanding the relationship between them is crucial for managing storage, bandwidth, and data transfer.
There are two systems for measuring file sizes:
Based on powers of 1000, these units follow the International System of Units (SI):
Common Use: Hard drive manufacturers, network speeds, storage device marketing
Based on powers of 1024, these units are defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC):
Common Use: Operating systems, memory (RAM), actual file system calculations
This is why a 1 TB hard drive shows as only 931 GB in your operating system. The manufacturer uses decimal (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes), but your OS uses binary (1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes).
Manufacturer (Decimal): 1,000,000,000,000 bytes = 1 TB
Operating System (Binary): 1,000,000,000,000 bytes = 931.32 GiB
| File Type | Typical Size |
|---|---|
| Text Document | 10-100 KB |
| 20-200 KB | |
| Photo (JPEG) | 2-12 MB |
| Photo (RAW) | 20-50 MB |
| MP3 Song (3-4 min) | 3-5 MB |
| HD Movie (1080p) | 4-8 GB |
| 4K Movie | 20-50 GB |
| AAA Video Game | 50-150 GB |
| Decimal | Binary | Bytes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 KB | 1 KiB | 1,000 vs 1,024 | 2.4% |
| 1 MB | 1 MiB | 1,000,000 vs 1,048,576 | 4.9% |
| 1 GB | 1 GiB | 1,000,000,000 vs 1,073,741,824 | 7.4% |
| 1 TB | 1 TiB | 1,000,000,000,000 vs 1,099,511,627,776 | 9.95% |